The Old Skying Sane Man
by Skygirl1997
Summary: NOT A CRAKFIC! one shot. Darren has horrible writer's block in trying to compose his new song, and Chris comes up with a crazy, insane, and fantastic idea to inspire him. Based off the scene between Todd and Mr. Keating in The Dead Poets Society. CrissColfer friendship.


**I would love for a teacher like Mr. Keating in the Dead Poet Society. Just saying. I hope you enjoy this!**

**Dis: I don't own glee or the Dead Poet Society.**

"Come on, Dare! It shouldn't be that hard!" Chris Colfer encouraged his best friend and co-worker. They were on the Glee set, taking a break from shooting with Lea, Mark, Kevin, and Ryan sitting with them and all six drinking different versions of coffee. Chris and Darren were sitting on the sofa together, a pen and paper laying on a binder on Darren's lap, the page blank. Chris's laptop rested on his, but it was full of pictures made by typed letters from the deepest thoughts of the author. Kevin was playing on his phone, like Lea and Mark, but Ryan was watching his actors on the sofa with guarded curiousity. "Don't force it, let it flow."

"Easy for you to say!" Darren retorted with his voice edging toward a growl of aggravation and frustration. He crossed his arms and glared heatedly at the page on his lap. "You're a storyteller, I'm a songwriter! Lyrics don't come as easy as paragraphs do!"

"Says who?" Chris asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Name one place it does!" Darren challenged. He thought that that would shut Chris up and leave him to sulk in his block. He was wrong.

A smirk stretched across Chris's face, and a twinkle appeared in his glasz eyes. Darren knew he should feel uneasy because of that look, but he was too frustrated to care. "Poetry." Chris answered simply.

Darren was floored. "What?"

"Poetry." Chris repeated.

"That-That doesn't-" Darren felt annoyed. "Wrong."

"Why?" Chris asked inquisitively.

"Because! Poetry isn't songwriting! It's storytelling!" Darren cried.

"Wrong and right, Mr. Criss." Chris replied, smiling. He set his laptop down on the table next to the sofa. "Poetry is songwriting and storytelling both."

"How so?" The question wasn't from Darren. It was from Lea. She, Mark, Kevin, and Ryan were watching the exchange with open intrest.

"All songs are are just poetry set to music. And poetry can tell stories. So storytelling and songwriting can cross over eachother thanks to poems." Chris answered with a grin.

"This doesn't help me, Chris." Darren moaned, his face set in a scowl. He slumped in his seat. "I'm not a poet."

"Yes, you are." Chris countered. The author was still grinning. "You write songs, songs are basically poetry, so in turn, you're a poet." Darren just snorted, returning to glaring at the empty paper in front of him. Chris bit his lip, then his face lit up as a lightbulb clicked on in his head. He had an idea. A crazy, insane, fantastic idea. Chris jumped to his feet. "Come on. Up." Chris ordered, pulling on Darren's hand. "Up. Up, _now_!"

Darren's look of frustration turned to confusion. "What are you doing?" The others were wondering that as well. What _was _the twenty-four year old up to?

Chris ignored him. He continued to yank on Darren's hand until his friend was in a standing position. Then he tugged him a few inches away from the sofa. "Do you know what a 'yawp' is?" Chris asked, his glasz eyes dead serious.

"A what?" Darren demanded, starting to think that his best friend was losing his mind. He looked over to Lea, who shrugged.

"A yawp. But not just any yawp," Chris continued before Darren could say something else. "A barbaric yawp. Walt Whitman said it like this: I sound my barbaric YAWP over the rooftops of the world."

"What _is _a yawp?" Kevin asked.

"A yawp is a loud cry or yell." Chris answered, his attention still on Darren. "Dare, I want you to demonstrate a barbaric yawp."

"Yawp?" Darren said, his eyes questioning.

"No! Not just a yawp." Chris shook his head. "A barbaric yawp." Chris clarified, lowering his voice at _yawp_.

"Yawp." Darren said again.

"Come on, louder." Chris pressed.

"Yawp." Darren repeated, a little louder than before.

"Oh, that's a mouse! Come on, _louder_." Chris encouraged.

"Yawp." Darren tried again, his voice still raising higher.

"Oh, good god, Dare!" Chris cried. "Yawp like a ma-."

"YAWP!" Darren shouted, angry.

"And there it is!" Chris smiled brightly. "You have a barbarian in you, after all." Darren moved to sit back down, his lips twitching. Chris grabbed him and kept him from moving. "You're not getting away that easy." He pointed to Ryan. "Ryan's sitting over there, drinking his coffee, what does he remind you of? Don't think!" Chris added forecfully just as Darren opened his mouth to answer. "Just answer!" Chris paced in a circle around Darren, and everyone could see his nerves on high energy; he was thrumming with urgency and anxiety. Waiting on Darren. Ryan was curious, and Mark, Lea and Kevin watched Darren closely to see what he would say.

"A-A-A sane man!" Darren stuttered out. Whatever Chris was doing was getting to him.

"What kind of sane man?" Chris demanded, his glasz eyes smoldering as he continued to pace. Darren thought. "Don't think! Just answer again!"

"A good sane man!" Darren answered, exasperated.

"Oh, you can do better than that!" Chris urged. In the back of his mind he knew that this would look like insanity to someone else but right this second his focus was on Darren. "Free up your mind, use your immagination, say the first thing that pops into your head, even if it's total gibberish! Come on!"

"An-An old skying sane man!" Darren replied, a hint of desperation in his voice. Chris beamed. The others' eyes were locked on them, transfixed.

"There's a poet in you yet!" Chris praised. "Now, close your eyes!" Darren blinked at him rapidly. Chris covered his eyes with his hand, the other resting on the back of his neck. "Close them. Now," Chris's voice and body was humming with barely contained excitement. "Describe what you see." The pair started revolving on the spot.

"I-I close my eyes-" Darren stammered, his voice shaky.

"Yes, go on!" Chris heartened, beginning to smile widely.

"And I-I see him standing there-"

"The old skying sane man?" Chris suggested.

"The old skying sane man." Darren confirmed, trembling under Chris's hands. "His-His eyes like storms,"

"Great, now give him action, what's he doing?" Chris instructed. Lea, Mark, Ryan, and Kevin were observing the scene with rapt attention, ignoring everything else around them.

"He-He runs at me, arms outstretched, and all the while he's yelling."

"What's he yelling?" Chris demanded, gripping the fron of Darren's shirt with sure hands. They were still rotating in a circle.

"Yelling instructions on-on-"

"On what?" Chris asked excitedly.

"How-How to cry." Ryan couldn't help it, he chuckled. Darren's eyes flew open, and everyone could see the fear in his eyes.

"Ignore them, ignore them!" Chris urged, moving his hand over Darren's eyes again. They shut instantly, wheezes exiting his mouth. "Stay on those instructions, tell me those instructions!" Lea, Kevin, and Mark had never seen Darren so tense.

"We cry when our hearts are broken, when we feel pain or sorrow, and scream as we cry as our worst fears are realized. We cry when we love, we cry when we lose, and we cry for our lost. We always cry, because we'll always be human." Darren opened his eyes to find Chris smiling proudly at him, a knowing twinkle in his glasz eyes. Claps came from Mark, Ryan, Kevin and Lea.

"See?" Chris said in his version of 'I told you so'. Darren grinned, and looked at the blank paper, an idea coming to mind.

"I gotta go!" Darren exclaimed, grabbing the paper and binder and racing off. Chris chuckled, smiling at Ryan when he felt his boss's hand clamp down in his shoulder.

"Impressive." Ryan commented. Chris shrugged. "At first I thought you'd gone nuts."

"It was a crazy idea, but it worked." Chris shrugged again, an easy smile lighting up his face.

"Obviously." Ryan laughed. "But where did you get such a mad idea?"

Chris grinned at his boss. "Saw it in a movie once."

**I paticularly liked this one, but I might be a little biased.**

**Review please!**


End file.
